Dreaming of the Past

Lee sat in his base, quickly swallowing down half of his steamed, meat bun before deciding to pause, and eat the rest of it as at a more sedate pace, savouring the taste of its texture and bright flavour for a short while.

The hunger and sickness abated a little as Lee continued to eat and gaze out towards the lake.

There was a skeleton in there and Lee could not forget it.

The sun had tracked its way half way through the sky, leaving Lee with just enough time to continue exploring the mansion for the rest of the day. He could give himself a short nap afterwards and then have some supper, or he could have his nap now, and explore later.

The heat of the sun and the weight of food in his belly were strong in persuading him that the latter was much more preferable to the former, the gentle rocking of the waves onto the lakeshore the perfect lullaby to rock Lee to sleep.

He took the final bite of his meat bun and chewed it, yawning almost immediately upon swallowing.

Lee lead down onto the warmed wood, letting his head rest upon the brown material of his travel pack, abruptly remembering how he wouldn't be able to wash his clothes, before closing his eyes.

He felt his body drift away to sleep, the cool wind lightly grazing through his hair, and almost unbidden, almost as if it had been there all along, Lee found himself lying next to an open casket in a room full of unused coffins.

He jumped up at once at the sight, almost immediately slipping over the thick layer of dust in his haste to stand.

Lee frantically looked all around him, trying to search for some clues of where he was.

After a few minutes of forcing his breath to slow, he was sure that he was in some sort of coffin house, and that he needed to get out of there.

Lee turned around to the door behind him and crouched down to be eye level with the door handle. He slid the door open to reveal the smallest slither of light that he could and peered out, listening to the trickle of loud voices that poured in.

There were laughing children with their mothers, old women and men behind market stalls, travellers and pedlars selling their wares at the street corners, and a lone teenage boy playing his flute with a small bowl in front of him for his service.

Lee firmly opened the door and schooled his face into something determined, hoping that he wouldn't be asked any uncomfortable questions as he left the coffin house and entered the busy market street.

Outside, Lee had a firmer grasp of where he was; he recognised the layout of the buildings around him, the coffin house acting as the centre and reference point.

He walked further down the street, the edge of the lake lined with stalls all selling their wares, and found himself gazing at the animal shed that he had mucked around in before.

On instinct, he looked up to examine its roof and found it completely intact, not a single piece of evidence pointing to a previous hole in the roof, nor the slightest inkling that progress was being made on making a hole there.

Lee suddenly realised something and swivelled on his feet with a gasp and sprinted back down towards the coffin house and a little further, his body skidding to a stop at the grand site of the hotel, that he had explored underwater, standing firmly on the ground, towering upwards, as if trying to reach the sky.

Lee's breath caught in his lungs as he gazed up at its majesty, a thousand swinging, red paper lanterns hanging from the each floor level, hundreds of windows with incense lit in each, and the occasional bursts of flower petals descending from the upper balconies which were dotted around the structure, looking down onto the busy, market street below.

Lee suddenly rushed away from the hotel and began barrelling straight to the manor, eager to see what that looked like in within its prime.

He barely kept himself from tripping and tackling over the other shoppers on the street, constantly giving out his hasty apologies, letting nobody keep him from viewing what he wanted.

The mansion looked like the epitome of wealth and was a lovely enough sight to be printed onto paper by a master artist and be distributed over the country as an example of true beauty.

Magnolia trees framed the building and Lee spied the two entrances that he had seen prior. He also saw a large ox cart carrying over reams upon reams of cotton and silk, with various women rubbing the fabric between their fingers, judging its quality with one angry lady berating one of the men, seated high up on his ox for his bad service, pointing aggressively to one corner of lilac fabric where there was a clear rip about as long as Lee's forearm.

Lee winced at the scene, before shivering as a cold gust of wind hit him.

It wasn't the best idea to be hanging around a rich manor just staring at the staff as they worked and went through their day, despite the situation and information that Lee knew.

He began to walk himself back to the hotel from before.

He would be able to walk around the lobby there for a bit, and if he needed to give a reason to why he was there, he could simply say that he was lost and needing directions.

It was odd, Lee thought to himself, to find yourself wandering in the past of an abandoned town.

Lee didn't know why he was here, how he got here, and what he needed to do, but he supposed to himself that he could just wake himself up, if worst came to worst.

This was still a dream after all.